Texas large knife carry reform bill signed into law

By Chris Eger

Bowie, Texas is home to the world’s largest Bowie Knife, a blade important to the Lone Star State’s history and legal to carry starting Sept. 1. (Photo: Bowie Chamber of Commerce)
A bipartisan House bill repealing the Lone Star State’s 1871 ban on Bowie knives and other large blades was signed last week by Gov. Gregg Abbott.
The measure removing several restrictions on the carry of knives, HB 1935, passed the House 131-1 and the Senate 30-1 last month before being signed by Abbott without comment last Thursday.
The language of HB 1935 drops the carry of illegal knives such as “Bowie knives, daggers, dirks, stilettos, poniards, swords, and spears” from Texas penal code on weapons, a crime which currently carries fines of up to a year in jail, a fine of up to $4,000, or both. Previously, one could only exhibit such blades in public if they were part of a ceremony or historical demonstration.
Still off limits for knives with blades over 5.5 inches will be places such as schools, correctional facilities, houses of worship, and bars that derive more than half their income from alcohol sales. The offense for bringing a restricted knife into a prohibited place will be a Class C